SELF-DIRECTED Synonyms: 107 Similar and Opposite Words

self-directed

adjective

Definition of self-directed

as in self-indulgent

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

as in independent

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of self-directed But that change needs to be self-directed, coming from within each individual. — Goth Shakira contributing, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2026 While other Coachella performers like Katseye and Lucky Brand collaborator Addison Rae have each carved out distinct aesthetic identities, festivalgoers are drawing less direct inspiration from performers’ styles, instead embracing a more individual and self-directed approach to dressing. — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 3 Apr. 2026 Life feels self-directed rather than dictated by external pressure or comparison. — Larae Quy, Forbes.com, 25 Feb. 2026 Trade The Pool aims to help people become more financially capable and self-directed. — Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for self-directed

Recent Examples of Synonyms for self-directed

Adjective

Not so much of the self-indulgent stuff that gave the genre a bad name.

— Liza Lentini, SPIN, 9 Oct. 2026
This is the man who made the two-and-a-half-hour, stream-of-consciousness passion project Bardo (2022), after all, which several critics also found rather abrasive and self-indulgent.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of self-indulgent

Adjective

At the end of September, leaders of several of the biggest AI companies went to the White House and signed an accord committing to internal risk controls, independent audits and board-level oversight of safety.

— Giorgos Tsetis, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
However, the ministry’s statement does not provide independent verification of the results or disclose additional technical details about the missiles’ performance.

— Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of independent

Adjective

Played by Jesse Eisenberg, Zuckerberg is dramatized as a conceited, socially awkward college student who repeatedly burns allies in pursuit of power.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, Johnson reprises his role as Moana's bantering reluctant partner, the shapeshifting trickster demigod Maui, alongside Jemaine Clement again voicing the conceited giant crustacean Tamatoa.

— Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 July 2026

Definition of conceited

Adjective

Instead, the island became self-sufficient, with the majority of residents managing their own farmland, with the island still bearing its patchwork quilt of stone walls and boundary lines.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
In general, the Strengthening Institutions Program seeks to help schools become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students.

— Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of self-sufficient

Adjective

Claire’s elective death therefore remains a problematic choice for some viewers, an act of vainglorious selfishness from a woman who was never terribly nice to begin with.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2026
Melodramatic and vainglorious, moody and capricious, a fidgety, neurotic hypochondriac, Stalin was a bundle of appalling contradictions.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026

Definition of vainglorious

Adjective

The German company aims to deploy the model across different robot platforms, allowing customers to adapt its capabilities to specific applications.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
On winding roads, its model-specific suspension tuning and focus on weight reduction translate into exceptional body control at speed without becoming brittle or overly rigid in slower, more technical sections.

— Bradley Iger, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of specific

Adjective

That raises the possibility that investors are dangerously complacent about the probability of a rate hike in October.

— Matt Peterson, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Former president Barack Obama expressed surprise at Democrats’ expanding midterm map at a private fundraiser Wednesday night, but warned donors not to get complacent about the party’s chances, according to excerpts provided to The Washington Post.

— Liz Goodwin, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of complacent

Adjective

These species, along with teal and shovelers, often get categorized by self-important duck hunters as scrap ducks or bonus ducks.

— Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 9 Sep. 2026
Public officials attend each year to bear witness and show their respects, not deliver self-important speeches.

— Ken Frydman, New York Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026